Santa Barbara Calendar of Events

Today, too few people know of the Santa Barbara School of the Arts. Flourishing during the 1920s, the School brought together a pantheon of illustrious artists including Carl Oscar Borg, Edward Borein and Colin Campbell Cooper. Join Guest Curator Marlene Miller as she presents The Guiding Lights of this extraordinary institution.

Santa Barbara Museum of Art August/September 2009 Contact: Katrina Carl 805.884.6430 kcarl@sbma.net Noble Tombs at Mawangdui: Art and Life in the Changsha Kingdom (3rd Century BCE – 1st Century CE) September 19 - December 13, 2009 Originating from the Hunan Provincial Museum and organized by the China Institute in New York, this exhibition, traveling to the United Stated for the first time, highlights one of the most important archaeological excavations in China - the unearthing of Mawangdui, the tomb of the first lady and family of the Changsha Kingdom (died 168 BCE) in the Western Han dynasty (206 BCE-8 CE). The Santa Barbara Museum of Art will be the second and only west coast venue. This exhibition will include some of the finest and among the earliest extant lacquers, silks, paintings, calligraphy, and books. Through these various art works, the exhibition will also examine and reconstruct the art and culture of the Western Han dynasty, a formative period of Chinese culture and civilization, focusing on daily cuisine and drink, cosmetics and fashion, music and entertainment, healthcare and exercise, and the fascinating beliefs of the immortal world. The accompanying exhibition catalogue will be bilingual and published by the Hunan Provincial Museum.

Our fall exhibition is an artistic exploration and celebration of the majesty and subtlety of California's Southern Sierra Nevada mountain range. Offering unique perspectives of four artists working in different media: woodcut prints by Tom Killion, line drawings by Matthew Rangel, photographs by Jeff Jones, and oil paintings by Zenaida Mott. Their work speaks to the importance of the Sierra Nevadas in the history of California and the lives of Californians, the dominant beauty of the landscape and fragility of the wildlife, and the urgent need for awareness and preservation.

The artist created a new series of monotypes for this exhibit while working in Santa Fe over the summer.  Inspired by jazz improvisation techniques and Native American culture, R. Anthony Askew creates one-of-a-kind prints using rich colors, energetic lines and shapes to form lyrical non-objective compositions.  During the summers Mr. Askew teaches for the College of Santa Fe and the Institute of American Indian Arts in New Mexico, and it was there that he began exploring the monotype process.  He explains, "In the monotype, which is a transferred painting or a painterly print, the surface is enhanced by additional papers both for content and for texture, that are adhered as they are printed (chine collé). The main focus in these new works is form, expressive use of color and composition with directed energy and playfulness."  Each work of art is designed within a square format, resulting in intriguing compositions that resonate with viewers according to their individual perceptions.

After Life gathers an eclectic selection of images on death and dying. From intimate post-mortem photographs of the 19th century to Salvador Dali’s surrealist interpretations of Dante’s heaven and hell, objects range from the actual to the imagined. Cultural customs of mourning and burial are captured not only in American daguerreotypes, but also in photographs by Henri Cartier-Bresson of grieving Indians at Gandhi’s funeral and an austere Egyptian mummy by Antonio Beato. HOLIDAY CLOSURE: DECEMBER 14, 2009 - JANUARY 6, 2010

Both abstract and evocative, the objects on view subtly reference familiar forms and functions. Robert Therrien’s wall-hung relief suggests an isolated keystone, suspended by its own force. Similarly Dane Goodman’s cylindrical object recalls a functional, if uncertain, implement. Matthew Mullican’s outsized canvas distills nature’s seasons into a lexicon of symbols like a lost language. Together these works hint at meaning and imply their messages. HOLIDAY CLOSURE: DECEMBER 14, 2009 - JANUARY 6, 2010

This exhibition conjures the early, heady days of travel which occurred in lockstep with photography’s development. The objects in Holiday show glimpses of a long lost world which was newly opened due to transportation advances and a growing middle class eager to explore foreign lands for personal edification, religious fervor and a desire to see the exotic. HOLIDAY CLOSURE DATES: DECEMBER 14, 2009 - JANUARY 6, 2010

Video still, courtesy of Michael Rosenthal Gallery, San Francisco Jillian Mcdonald is a multimedia artist who explores the romance and horror film genres in her multimedia work. Her performance-based video, Horror Make-Up (2006) was filmed, unbeknownst to her fellow subway riders, while on a typical commute to work. Mcdonald filmed herself applying cosmetics during the ride, transforming her features into that of a zombie HOLIDAY CLOSURE DATES: DECEMBER 14, 2009 - JANUARY 6, 2010

Anthony Peres makes fine art photographs of landscape and architecture using traditional film and digital technologies. He also photographs for clients in the architecture, interior design, and motion picture industries. His architectural photographs have been featured publications of the Museum of Modern Art, The Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation, and Architectural Digest. He has been a principal contributor for David G. De Long’s Auldbrass: Frank Lloyd Wright’s Southern Plantation, and has co authored the monograph Robert Stacy-Judd with the late architectural historian David Gebhard.